PC Solutions IT Support Increases Network Stability And Productivity
At Bay West
PC Solutions Case Study: Bay West, Inc.

PC Solutions is able to balance the technical stuff with what makes common business sense. Our PC Solutions representative is always focused on return on investment.

Bay West, Inc. is a growing national environmental and industrial services firm. The company’s solutions – from environmental investigation and waste management to emergency spill response and industrial cleaning – provide peace of mind to its customers. Bay West expects the same level of responsiveness and assurance from its IT provider, PC Solutions. In meeting these expectations, PC Solutions has earned the trust of Bay West, which relies on PC Solutions to keep the Bay West network running smoothly and help the company make smart IT investments.

STRONG BUSINESS SENSE

When Lon Larson, Bay West President, and two other partners bought the company in 2004, PC Solutions was already providing some IT support at the company’s headquarters in St. Paul, MN. Bay West, which has been in business for more than 30 years, has approximately 100 employees and seven project offices across the country. During his first year of ownership, Larson decided to outsource more of the company’s IT functions. He evaluated PC Solutions along with several other providers and chose to stay with PC Solutions. In the years that have followed, Larson’s trust in PC Solutions has grown and he has expanded the relationship between the two companies accordingly. One reason is the solid business sense of PC Solutions staff.

“What stands out for me is that PC Solutions is able to balance the technical stuff with what makes common business sense. Our PC Solutions representative is always focused on return on investment. He filters and presents technical options in a manner that reconciles the business need and I really appreciate that. When considering new technology, at each incremental level there’s an incremental cost – at some point the level of increased investment isn’t worth it. PC Solutions helps us evaluate our risk tolerance and determine which technology makes the most business sense for us,” said Larson.

STABILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY

In the five years since PC Solutions began supporting Bay West, the IT provider has helped to improve network stability, software application functioning, data security, and the speed and effectiveness of end-user support. The latter was achieved by reworking help desk procedures to include more effective communication with users about the status and resolution of their problems.

In the past, non-urgent items could have remained in the help desk support queue for a period of time and then be resolved without the knowledge of the employee who made the initial support request. Now any help desk request automatically generates a service ticket and users immediately receive a message confirming receipt of the request and again, later, when the issue has been addressed.. This way, users can provide additional clarification when necessary to pinpoint problems and ensure solutions are acceptable. There’s no more wondering what happened; the clear feedback loop has built confidence among employees that their support needs are being addressed through the help desk in a timely and comprehensive manner.

“PC Solutions made a great improvement in help desk service, which takes users to a higher level of comfort and trust. I get a courtesy copy of all those communications back and forth, so I can see the result,” said Larson. In addition to the help desk changes, PC Solutions has enhanced overall network stability and security as well.

“Working with PC Solutions gives me peace of mind from a management perspective. I believe the average user here feels better today than they did five years ago about the stability of the network, the hardware we’re using and the responsiveness of the tech support they receive. These users are happier and more productive, so it makes us all more productive – it definitely makes me more productive. I have better things to do than listen to complaints about the printer not working, but when you’re the owner of a business, you play a variety of roles to ensure the company is running smoothly,” said Larson.

RESPONSIVENESS AND FLEXIBILITY

Occasionally things go wrong – such as a power outage that takes down the network – and no matter when it happens, PC Solutions is always there to help.

“Whenever we need someone here, PC Solutions comes through, no matter if it’s at night or on a weekend. They have been responsive to our needs and we trust them. They’re also very flexible. When we need to do a software upgrade or data migration or conversion, they recognize that needs to be done outside of our working hours. They’re quick to recognize it, flexible about scheduling and they get it done quickly. They understand that we make our money during prime time business hours and we need our network up then, so that’s not the time for them to fix things. I appreciate their responsiveness and flexibility,” Larson said.

TRUST AND COLLABORATION

As an environmental service company working with federal, state, municipal and commercial entities, Bay West is often interacting with other firms on projects across the country. PC Solutions contributes to the collaborative effort by working as an extension of Bay West with the company’s partners to ensure things go smoothly.

“PC Solutions is completely comfortable stepping outside the Bay West circle of employees to work directly with our teaming partners. They make the necessary calls and treat our partners just like they treat us – providing great service. I have no qualms about them representing us with our customers, our vendors, our teaming partners. I have complete trust and confidence in PC Solutions,” said Larson.

PROACTIVE PARTNERSHIP

That sense of collaboration and flexibility extends to the manner in which the two companies are working together. Bay West has recently expanded its relationship with PC Solutions to a higher level of service including more proactive planning and senior-level consulting.

“Our relationship with PC Solutions has been very positive over the years. They have been flexible in tweaking their business processes to meet our expectations for how they interact with us to provide support and continuous improvement. In 2008 we looked at some initiatives we have on the horizon and determined that we needed to step up our level of support. We issued an RFP to a couple firms and decided to stay with PC Solutions and expand our relationship so it’s less reactive and more proactive – and so they have a vested interest in how efficient things are running at Bay West. We’re in the beginning stages of working together at the CIO level to do some business-changing work – we’re excited about the prospect of these changes for our company and our relationship with PC Solutions,” said Larson.

I have no qualms about them representing us with our customers, our vendors, our teaming partners. I have complete trust and confidence in PC Solutions.